Fall River's Arbor Day project shows how money grows on trees

Monday

Apr 29, 2013 at 12:01 AMApr 29, 2013 at 1:29 AM

If you see a big green price tag hanging from a tree in the city, don’t be alarmed — it’s not up for sale and it’s not being torn down. The bright green tags are part of the Fall River Tree Benefit Tag Project for Arbor Day. Each tag provides a tree’s environmental worth in dollars.

Deborah Allard

If you see a big green price tag hanging from a tree in the city, don’t be alarmed — it’s not up for sale and it’s not being torn down.

The bright green tags are part of the Fall River Tree Benefit Tag Project for Arbor Day. Each tag provides a tree’s environmental worth in dollars.

Mary Ann Wordell, president of the Fall River Street Tree Planting program, said tags have been placed on about 60 trees in the city.

Each one will show the tree’s estimated monetary benefit over five years.

She said the calculation is derived by estimating energy savings, stormwater runoff savings and the cost of pollution filtration.

“It shows why we should be planting them and taking care of them,” Wordell said.

Oaks, elms, beech and tulip trees, she said, provide the most financial benefit. Studies show that every dollar invested in trees nets a $3 to $7 return.

She said trees also benefit the city in ways that cannot be calculated. They absorb air pollution, release oxygen into the air, and can improve health.

Tags can be seen hanging on trees around Government Center and the Fall River Public Library, at North Park, Father Kelly Park, Maplewood Park, Ruggles Park and Kennedy Park.

A national tree benefit calculator, developed by Davey Tree Expert Co. and Casey Trees, is available online.

“A homeowner can even do it for their own trees,” Wordell said.
Also in honor of Arbor Day, Wordell, along with members of the Street Tree Planting Program, and others took part in a tree-planting outside the Children’s Museum at 441 N. Main St. on Friday.

Mayor Will Flanagan and about a dozen children helped shovel bright orange mulch around the new tree — a zelkova, a shade tree with green leaves that form a rounded crown.

Flanagan proclaimed Friday Arbor Day, which was celebrated in all of the city’s schools.

“It is important for our children to know the advantages provided by our trees,” Flanagan said.

The tree, he said, was “planted on behalf of all the children in Fall River.”

“When this tree grows in, 10 to 15 years from now, you can say ‘I planted it,’” Flanagan told the children.

Wordell, who has been a member of the Street Tree Planting Program for more than 15 years, got a bit of a surprise.

Flanagan said he plans to recommend to the City Council that a new urban tree farm located on Bay Street be named for Wordell.